Discover the Top 10 Health Benefits of Goji Berries

Have you ever wondered how these little red berries can change your life? Well, goji berries are one of the most nutritionally rich foods on the planet. Goji berries are grown on a vine-like bush only in the shade. Although goji berries isn’t a thorny plant, some American variety of goji berries can have stems covered in thorns. An interesting fact is that goji berries can handle the daily temperature swings as great as 40 degrees Fahrenheit, which states that they are much stronger than they look. Goji berries can survive the freezing winters and can grow successfully in place, such as the British Columbia. During spring the goji berry bush is filled with leaves and covered in pale-white to purple flowers, which will soon develop into juicy fruit berries. Goji berries differ in colours from pale yellow, sun-fire orange and deep red. The two main types of goji berries are Asian and American. The only difference between them, is their history. The Asian goji berries has been grown for thousands of years by the Chinese, Mongolian and Tibetans, whereas the American goji berries originated from the dessert South-West of the United States, which was used for survival when no water was found.

Benefits:

1. Longevity and Healthy Hormones:  A seventy-year-old only produces one-tenth of the amount of the Human Growth Hormone generated by a twenty-year-old. This cause the body to have lower energy levels, wastage and to store body fat. To feel, look and function like a youthful person, you need to boost the natural production of the growth hormone. The goji berry has been identified as “the longevity fruit” which is filled with a variety of nutrients, which will help you to live a longer and healthier life.  Goji berries will help your body to achieve this in three interesting ways:

• Goji berries are high in sesquiterpenoids, which are filled with anti-inflammatory properties.
• Goji berries stimulate the pituitary and pineal glands, which increase the glandular production of the Human Growth Hormone (HGH).
• Goji berries are rich in l-arginine and l-glutamine, which works together to boost the HGH in order to revitalize your appearance and metabolism. So, to stay young, eat goji berries!

2. Enhancing Libido and Sexual Function: Goji berries are known for its strong sexual tonic in Asia. Goji berries improve your stamina levels, mood and wellbeing, while decreasing the impact of stress on your body. These great benefits leads to a much more healthier and rich sex-life. For the men it is important to know that a poor sexual function, is not caused by your age, but by your low levels of testosterone. Goji berries will help you HGH production, which will raise the testosterone levels and ensure a healthier sex-life.

3. Improving Vision: Goji berries contain the highest concentration of eyesight improving antioxidants, namely zeaxanthin and lutein. Zeaxanthin and lutein  protects the eyes from the damage of the free radicals that attacks your eyes every day and also heals the membranes of your eyes, keeping them youthful and healthy. These two key antioxidants are concentrated at the center of the retina and protect your eyes from the following diseases:

• Cataracts
• Diabetic retinopathy
• Loss of sight
• Eye aging problems.

4. Antioxidants: Antioxidants protects your DNA from the damage of free radicals and radiation. If your DNA is damaged, it’s easier  for every imaginable illness to enter your body, as well as increasing the ageing process. So, how does your DNA gets damaged? During the course of the years, time and our busy lifestyle, our health gets exposed to toxins, radiation and free radicals. Your body is equipped to repair itself, but if your body gets faced with too many free radicals, it becomes overwhelmed and result is premature death of healthy cells. This result can be the cause of a variety of diseases, such as cancer. The goji berry is filled with carotenoid antioxidants, which are a natural source of fat-soluble antioxidant pigments, and the more carotenoids you eat, the more live you put into your years.

5. Immune System Booster: Goji berries are rich in Vitamin C and Zinc. Both of these vitamins protects the body against diseases and helps in recovery. Goji berries also protect the cells in your body and boost your immune system through these three main components:

• Polysaccharides, which protects the cells from generic mutation.
• Beta-carotene, which enhance the thymus gland function and increase the stimulation action on your immune system to prevent any viral infection.
• Mineral germanium, which fights off any cancer properties, such as, liver cancer, lung cancer, cervical cancer, testicular cancer and uterine cancer.

So boost your immune system with these powerful berries and never catch flu again!

6. Hydration: Proper hydration is a very important aspect for your overall health. If your body isn’t hydrated, you become dehydrated, which means that your body doesn’t have enough water to absorb to function normally. You lose water through your sweat, when you breathe and when you go to the bathroom. You don’t have to drink water only, but you can consume fresh goji berries for hydration as well. Fresh goji berries grows in rich, alkaline alluvial soils, which contains a big amount of hydrogen, which is needed for hydration. Now you can eat a few fresh goji berries for that extra hydration.

7. Supporting Brain and Neurological Health: Goji berries helps our bodies with the production of choline, which is an essential nutrient that fights off free radical damage, that narrows the arteries that delivers oxygen to the brain cells, which can cause Alzheimer’s disease and neurological degeneration.

8. Supporting Cardiovascular Health: Goji berries hold the key to fight off the main cause of most heart diseases, which is Oxidized Cholesterol. Cholesterol becomes more dangerous when it oxidizes as a result of free radicals. This is when the blood fats clench to the artery walls with calcium forming nanobacteria to form plagues. An enzyme called Superoxide Dismutase  ( SOD ) acts as a defense mechanism against cholesterol and may prevent cholesterol from oxidizing. Goji berries can increase your levels of SOD, which will decrease your cholesterol levels.

9. Keeping Vital Organs Healthy: Goji berries keep our vital organs healthy through balancing blood sugar levels and increasing the digestive system, skin and liver function. They’re also filled with phytonutrients, which enhance the ability to detoxify and guard the liver against any damage from carcinogens and hepatitis virus. These phytonutrients includes betaine, polysaccharides and antioxidant pigments. The liver gets cleaned by betaine, which also reduce the toxic amino acids in the cardiovascular system. Goji berry tea can be used for the treatment of diabetes and all types of digestive problems, as well as the recovery of ulcers and a spastic colon. Goji berries also contain fatty acids, which can stimulate collagen production to ensure moisture resulting in a youthful skin.

10. Improving Sleep: Goji berries contain Thiamine and Magnesium, which are the two main nutrients needed for a healthy sleep. Thiamin improves your mood and energy levels, while magnesium improves the quality of sleep by shortening the time it takes to fall asleep.

Three Goji Berries Recipes

Goji Coconut Balls

Ingredients:

2 Cups Dried Goji Berries

1 Cup Tocotrienols

2 Tbs. Coconut Oil

2 Tbs. Raw Honey

1 Cup Cacao Nibs

1 Tbs Coconut Flakes

1/4 Cup Raw Almonds

Method:

Blend the dried goji berries in a high speed blender.

Blend the raw almond until fine powder.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, until smooth.

Roll one tablespoon scoop in your hands, into a bite size ball.

Roll the balls in the coconut.

Refrigerate for 20 minutes, then ready to serve.

Zesty Goji Berry Juice

Ingredients:

1/4 Cup Soaked Goji Berries

1/2 Tsp. Orange Zest

1/2 Tsp. Fresh Grated Ginger

1 Tsp. Raw Honey

1 Cup Purified Water or Organic Coconut Juice

Method:

Mix the soaked water of the goji berries with all ingredients into a blender.

Blend until smooth.

Serve as soon as the juice is blended.

For a chilled smoothie feel, blend a few cubes of ice and mix.

Goji Berry and Fresh Apple Salad

Ingredients:

2 Cups of Fresh Sliced Apples

1 Cup Dried Goji Berries

1/2 Sliced Fresh Avocado

1/2 Fresh Lemon

Method:

Mix all ingredients in a bowl.

Top with Goji berries.

This post is an item in this series about superfood.

To experience all the great benefits of  superfoods, you can read further in this series about superfoods:

Top 13 Health Benefits of Superfood Spirulina

Who Should Take Spirulina and How Often

Discover the Top 10 Benefits of Goji Berries

Reference

[amazon_link id=”1556437765″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the Future [/amazon_link] by David Wolfe

[amazon_link id=”1580544738″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Goji Berry: Fruits of Paradise [/amazon_link] by Candice Hoffmann